Operational Update
(2 February 2023, Manchester UK) - Watercycle Technologies Ltd (‘Watercycle’ or ‘the Company’), a deep tech company focused on developing sustainable, high-yield, low-cost, mineral extraction and water treatment systems, is pleased to announce an operational update as it advances the commercialisation of its deep technology IP.
With a focus on sustainability, environmental protection, and remediation, as well as cost efficiency and reduced carbon emissions, the Watercycle team is developing critical applications that can filter and clean water across multiple industries, producing saleable and valuable commodities such as lithium and other high-value metals in the process.
2022 was a very positive year for Watercycle as it achieved multiple commercial and corporate milestones, Intellectual Property development and reenforced its position in all three of its target market sectors: Direct Lithium Extraction & Crystallisation or DLEC™; battery recycling; and desalination.
At its laboratories at The Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (‘GEIC’), Watercycle successfully developed a lithium salt precipitation and crystallisation process that enabled it to pursue its strategy of identifying and signing partners to conduct field testing of its DLEC™ process. In line with this, the Board signed an agreement with Cornish Lithium Ltd, backed by a £500,000 grant from Innovate UK Smart Grant, to deliver a containerised filtration system to extract lithium from their geothermal brine project in Cornwall at a pilot scale. The project, which includes an environmental impact assessment, is anticipated to complete in Q3 2023.
The Company is in discussions with a number of other partners, both in the UK and internationally, to advance its strategy of piloting its end-to-end lithium extraction system and use it in conjunction with lithium brines from different sources. Being an end-to-end solution enables resource owners to extract the highest possible value from a resource. By working with an end-to-end technology provider, it is not necessary to negotiate multiple contracts with several companies that only offer one part of the process. In addition, it negates the need to ship lithium concentrates for refinement elsewhere. Shipping concentrates (comprised largely of water) is expensive and increases the travel miles of the product. Watercycle’s model is to operate in partnership with resource companies, co-develop projects, and share the economic benefits from resultant production that would not otherwise be possible.
The second initial pillar to the business is battery recycling and again, excellent progress has been made recently. In Q4 2022, testing to extract lithium, graphite, and other valuable by-products from spent batteries started with first extraction of lithium from ‘Black Mass’ using its proprietary filtration process achieved. Black Mass' is a type of e-waste comprising crushed and shredded End of Life battery cells and is obtained once a battery has been processed for recycling; it contains mixtures of valuable metals including lithium, manganese, cobalt and nickel.
Watercycle’s technology can recover a high percentage of lithium that exists in spent batteries and ensures zero-waste. Operating after the sorting and shredding phase in the leaching and refining stage of the process, it can take mixed black mass and apply a chemical extraction process to recover lithium. Once extracted, it can then crystallise the lithium solution into a high value salt. The system is more cost and environmentally friendly than its competitors. This is due to its multistep extraction process that enables high value by-products to be recovered that can either be sold on or reused and can thereby offset the cost of reagents in the wider process. The Company is targeting battery recyclers, whether that is dedicated recycling plants or recycling facilities within gigafactories.
The need for mineral recycling is crucial for the globe to achieve net zero and the Board is extremely confident that its technology will assist in facilitating an increase in recycling. The battery recycling market is estimated to grow from USD 17.2 billion in 2020 to USD 23.2 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 6.1% from 2020 to 2025[1].
Thirdly, the application of its technology within the desalination space has also been advanced with a number of potential significant customer opportunities. The Company's technology can be applied to extract valuable critical minerals from the brine (or wastewater) produced in desalination and is therefore attracting interest from potential customers in the desalination sector. Naturally occurring water supplies are becoming increasingly depleted around the world; there is a clear need for water purification technology. The global water desalination equipment market size was estimated at USD 15.53 billion in 2022 and is anticipated to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.4% from 2023 to 2030.
On a wider level, and in line with its active patent protection strategy, the Company continues to submit and gain grants of patents. This ensures that its IP and core technology, based on the design of membrane based mineral extraction and crystallisation systems and components within it, are protected, as it moves to commercialisation.
As part of its corporate development strategy the Company has forged strong relationships with various bodies for the securing of further grant funding, which it hopes to provide further details on in the coming months. Additionally, Watercycle has secured the services of corporate venture firm, Aer Ventures https://aerventures.uk/ with regards to raising further capital to accelerate the execution of its commercialisation strategy.
Watercycle co-founder and CTO Dr Ahmed Abdelkarim said, “Watercycle is an innovative, sustainability-driven company focused on developing high-yield, low-cost mineral extraction technologies and water treatment systems to aid the transition towards a Circular Economy. We have made excellent progress in all three target arenas, being Direct Lithium Extraction & Crystallisation or DLEC™, battery recycling and desalination and continue to further develop our technology as we enter the commercialisation phase of our strategy. These are exciting times, and we look forward to announcing further developments in the near future as we solidify our position as a leading UK mineral extraction and water filtration company.”
Watercycle co-founder and CEO Dr Seb Leaper added, “Our core technology spans selective mineral extraction, concentration, and crystallisation; this end-to-end solution to lithium extraction from brines places us at a distinct advantage to our competitors. The commercial opportunity to target in particular lithium bearing brines around the world is clearly evident as well as the environmental applications in battery recycling and desalination. We have a diverse team with strong scientific, technical, and commercial expertise to drive the business forward, an IP portfolio spanning the entire technology used, and a focus on R&D to align with the progress in the science. With developments on all fronts and an advisory network in place, 2023 will be transformative.”
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About Watercycle Technologies - www.watercycletechnologies.com
Watercycle, spun out from the University of Manchester and backed by business accelerator Aer Ventures, is an innovative, sustainability-driven deep tech company focused on developing high-yield, low-cost mineral extraction, and water treatment systems. Its advanced innovative membrane distillation-crystallisation (‘MDC’) technology is capable of treating highly concentrated water and is initially being utilised in lithium production from sub surface water and brines, as well as lithium-ion spent battery recycling, particularly relevant with regards to the current global transition towards a Circular Economy. The Company is operating from the world class facilities at the Masdar Building at the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre in Manchester, enabling the team to conduct critical R&D in state-of-the-art laboratories. Watercycle has a strong ethics-based business model that delivers profitable commercial solutions that are also focused on sustainability, environmental protection, and remediation.
The Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) - www.graphene.manchester.ac.uk/geic
GEIC helps companies develop and launch new technologies, products and processes that exploit the remarkable properties of graphene and other 2D materials. Its world class facilities and resources, housed in the Masdar Building, are supported by experienced and knowledgeable applications engineers and internationally renowned academics, working across a broad range of novel technologies and applications. Together, it can help design, develop, scale and ‘de-risk’ the next generation of innovative products and processes.